Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israel Ends 20-Month Boycott of U.N. Human Rights Group

  • Israel appeared before the main United Nations human rights body on Tuesday, ending a 20-month boycott of the Geneva forum which it accuses of bias against the Jewish state.

Eviatar Manor, Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, led its delegation to the session, held as part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s examination of U.N. member states every four years.

“It was not an easy decision to make,” Manor said in an opening statement to the talks.

“But Israel’s unfair treatment must come to an end. I hope our appearance here today will go a long way to restore equality and fairness regarding Israel in Geneva, and I am confident our continued diplomatic engagement will eventually allow our return to full activity within the Council.”

Some 76 countries signed up to speak during the half-day debate, with Palestine’s ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi among the first. He thanked diplomats whose behind-the-scenes negotiations brought Israel back.

“I think Israel only understands the language of pressure,” Khraishi said.

He called for Israel to withdraw from East Jerusalem and the West Bank, “as these are occupied Palestinian territories recognised as such by 33 states in the world last year.”

“We would also like to see Israel release all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, because Israel has no justification for keeping them in Israeli prisons.”

Switzerland said Israeli settlement-building continued in the West Bank including East Jerusalem “in spite of the fact it is illegal under international humanitarian law and has a grave impact on the… rights of the Palestinian population”.

But Peter Mulrean of the United States, Israel’s main ally, praised Israel for its “strong commitment and track record in upholding human rights, political freedoms and civil liberties”.

PRISONER RELEASE

Manor said the main challenge facing Israel was relations with the Palestinians, adding that the recent resumption of direct peace negotiations led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was a welcome step.

A second group of Palestinian prisoners are being released later on Tuesday as a confidence-building measure, he said.

“All of them have blood on their hands; all of them have murdered Israelis. Their release, I believe, illustrates Israel’s determination to reach an agreement with our Palestinian neighbours that will, once and for all, end the conflict.”

The planned release of 26 Palestinians has provoked feuding within Israel’s governing coalition, already under strain from the peace talks.

For Palestinians, who view settlements that Israel has erected on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war as obstacles to a state, brethren jailed by Israel are heroes in a fight for independence.

Shai Nitzan, deputy attorney general in Israel’s ministry of justice, told the talks that Israel faced serious security threats, including “suicide terrorism, external hostility and indiscriminate armed attacks against its civilians”.

He said Israel was taking steps to ease life for Palestinians in the West Bank. During Ramadan, for example, over a million Palestinians entered Israel, mainly in order to pray on the Temple Mount.

Eviatar Manor, Israel’s ambassador in Geneva, led its delegation to the session, held as part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s examination of U.N. member states every four years.

“It was not an easy decision to make,” Manor said in an opening statement to the talks.

“But Israel’s unfair treatment must come to an end. I hope our appearance here today will go a long way to restore equality and fairness regarding Israel in Geneva, and I am confident our continued diplomatic engagement will eventually allow our return to full activity within the Council.”

Some 76 countries signed up to speak during the half-day debate, with Palestine’s ambassador Ibrahim Khraishi among the first. He thanked diplomats whose behind-the-scenes negotiations brought Israel back.

“I think Israel only understands the language of pressure,” Khraishi said.

He called for Israel to withdraw from East Jerusalem and the West Bank, “as these are occupied Palestinian territories recognised as such by 33 states in the world last year.”

“We would also like to see Israel release all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, because Israel has no justification for keeping them in Israeli prisons.”

Switzerland said Israeli settlement-building continued in the West Bank including East Jerusalem “in spite of the fact it is illegal under international humanitarian law and has a grave impact on the… rights of the Palestinian population”.

But Peter Mulrean of the United States, Israel’s main ally, praised Israel for its “strong commitment and track record in upholding human rights, political freedoms and civil liberties”.

PRISONER RELEASE

Manor said the main challenge facing Israel was relations with the Palestinians, adding that the recent resumption of direct peace negotiations led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was a welcome step.

A second group of Palestinian prisoners are being released later on Tuesday as a confidence-building measure, he said.

“All of them have blood on their hands; all of them have murdered Israelis. Their release, I believe, illustrates Israel’s determination to reach an agreement with our Palestinian neighbours that will, once and for all, end the conflict.”

The planned release of 26 Palestinians has provoked feuding within Israel’s governing coalition, already under strain from the peace talks.

For Palestinians, who view settlements that Israel has erected on land captured in the 1967 Middle East war as obstacles to a state, brethren jailed by Israel are heroes in a fight for independence.

Shai Nitzan, deputy attorney general in Israel’s ministry of justice, told the talks that Israel faced serious security threats, including “suicide terrorism, external hostility and indiscriminate armed attacks against its civilians”.

He said Israel was taking steps to ease life for Palestinians in the West Bank. During Ramadan, for example, over a million Palestinians entered Israel, mainly in order to pray on the Temple Mount.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.